Dortmund record gives hopes as Benfica visit

Borussia Dortmund welcome SL Benfica for the second leg of their UEFA Champions League round of 16 contest.

• The German side need to turn round the tie having gone down 1-0 in Lisbon on 14 February, Kostas Mitroglou getting the only goal early in the second half. Benfica goalkeeper Ederson saved Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's penalty to deny Dortmund an equaliser.

• Dortmund reached this stage by winning Group F ahead of Real Madrid CF – scoring an unprecedented 21 goals in the process – while Benfica were Group B runners-up behind SSC Napoli.

Previous meetings
• Dortmund prevailed when the clubs met in the European Champion Clubs' Cup first round in 1963/64. Benfica won the first leg 2-1 in Lisbon as António Simões and Eusébio struck either side of Dortmund's Reinhold Wosab, but they were overwhelmed 5-0 in the return with Franz Brungs hitting a hat-trick and Friedhelm 'Timo' Konietzka and Wosab also scoring.

Match background

Dortmund
• UEFA Champions League winners in 1997, Dortmund are seeking a third quarter-final appearance this decade.

• Since the beginning of last season Dortmund have lost just one of 11 home games (W8 D2) in UEFA competition.

• Dortmund have won all five of their previous home matches against Portuguese visitors. This includes a 2-0 victory over FC Porto in last term's UEFA Europa League round of 16, Łukasz Piszczek and Marco Reus providing the platform for an eventual 3-0 aggregate success.

• Dortmund beat Sporting Clube de Portugal home (1-0) and away (2-1) in this season's group stage.

• Dortmund have won eight of the 15 UEFA competition ties in which they lost the first leg away from home. Most recently they succumbed 3-0 at home to Juventus in the 2014/15 round of 16 second leg, bowing out having gone down 2-1 in Italy.

• Dortmund's shoot-out record in UEFA competition is W2 L2:
3-4 v Udinese Calcio, 2008/09 UEFA Cup first round
2-4 v Club Brugge KV, 2003/04 UEFA Champions League third qualifying round
3-1 v Rangers FC, 1999/2000 UEFA Cup third round
6-5 v AJ Auxerre, 1992/93 UEFA Cup semi-finals

Benfica
• Benfica are looking to reach the quarter-finals for the third time in the past six seasons. Last year they beat FC Zenit 1-0 at home and 2-1 away at this stage before a 3-2 aggregate loss to FC Bayern München in the last eight.

• Benfica gained the fewest points (eight) of the 16 teams that survived the group phase.

• Rui Vitória's men had mixed fortunes on the road in the group stage, losing at SSC Napoli (2-4), winning at FC Dynamo Kyiv (2-0), and then surrendering a three-goal lead in a 3-3 draw with Beşiktaş JK.

• Benfica lost 1-0 at Bayern on their last visit to Germany in the quarter-finals of last season's UEFA Champions League (agg 2-3).

• Their overall away record against German clubs is W2 D6 L14. Eduardo Salvio scored the first goal of Benfica's first ever victory in Germany – 2-0 at VfB Stuttgart in the 2010/11 UEFA Europa League round of 32, in which Luisão also played.

• When winning the first leg of a UEFA competition tie, Benfica have progressed 47 times, losing only eight. Their record is even stronger when the first game finishes 1-0; they have won 12 such ties, including against Zenit at this stage last term, and lost just one, against RSC Anderlecht in the 2004/05 UEFA Champions League third qualifying round, when they went down 3-0 away.

• Benfica's record in UEFA penalty shoot-outs is W1 L2:
5-6 (neutral) v PSV Eindhoven, 1987/88 European Champion Clubs' Cup final
4-1 (home) v PAOK, 1999/2000 UEFA Cup second round
2-4 (neutral) v Sevilla FC, 2013/14 UEFA Europa League final

Player links
• Eliseu scored for Málaga CF in their UEFA Champions League quarter-final second leg at Dortmund in April 2013. His goal put Málaga 2-1 up on the night – and overall – but the Bundesliga team snatched a 3-2 victory with two added-time strikes.

• Eliseu was in the Portugal side that eliminated Łukasz Piszczek's Poland on penalties in the UEFA EURO 2016 quarter-finals.

• André Schürrle struck twice against Júlio César in Germany's 7-1 win over Brazil in the semi-finals of the 2014 FIFA World Cup. In that same tournament Schürrle, as a substitute, appeared alongside Mario Götze in a 4-0 group stage thrashing of a Portugal outfit including substitute André Almeida.

• Schürrle and Gonzalo Castro were on the losing side when Benfica last won in Germany – a 1-0 success at Bayer 04 Leverkusen in the 2012/13 UEFA Europa League round of 32. Luisão, André Almeida and Salvio were on the winning team. Schürrle went on to score in the second leg, which Benfica edged 2-1 in Lisbon.

• Jonas scored for Valencia CF in away (1-2) and home (3-1) encounters with Schürrle and Castro's Leverkusen in the 2011/12 UEFA Champions League group stage. Schürrle was on target in Leverkusen.

• Sebastian Rode was an unused Bayern München substitute in both legs of last term's quarter-final against Benfica.

• In his first season in European football, Adrián Ramos lost 4-0 at Benfica with Hertha BSC Berlin in the 2009/10 UEFA Europa League round of 32.

• Ljubomir Fejsa lost 1-0 at Dortmund with Olympiacos FC in the 2011/12 UEFA Champions League group stage.

• Mitroglou holds German citizenship and had spells in the youth ranks at MSV Duisburg and VfL Borussia Mönchengladbach.

• Rafa Silva figured as a Portugal substitute alongside Raphaël Guerreiro in a 5-0 win over Matthias Ginter's Germany in the 2015 UEFA European Under-21 Championship semi-finals.

• Have played together:
Kostas Mitroglou & Sokratis Papastathopoulos, Andreas Samaris (Greece)
Eliseu, Rafa Silva & Raphaël Guerreiro (Portugal)

Match facts

Dortmund
• Raphaël Guerreiro and Marcel Schmelzer are a booking away from a ban.

• Since their first-leg defeat, Thomas Tuchel's men beat VfL Wolfsburg and SC Freiburg 3-0, before racking up a 6-2 victory against Bayer 04 Leverkusen on Saturday.

• Dortmund's German Cup quarter-final at third-tier VfL Sportfreunde Lotte on 28 February was postponed because of an unplayable pitch. The tie has been rearranged for 14 March, with the winner playing Bayern in late April.

• Mario Götze, who has not played since 29 January, was ruled out "for the time being" on 27 February. The midfielder is suffering from metabolic disturbances, a disorder that is contributing to his ongoing muscular problems.

• Sven Bender (ankle) and Rode (groin) are yet to play in 2017. Marco Reus will miss out with a hamstring injury picked up against Leverkusen.

Benfica
• Pizzi, Fejsa and Samaris are a booking away from a ban.

• Benfica have won their last seven games in all competitions.

• Mitroglou has scored 18 goals in his last 17 appearances.

• Mitroglou was on target twice as Benfica triumphed 2-1 at Estoril Praia in the first leg of their Portuguese Cup semi-final on 28 February.

• Fejsa has not played since the 1-0 win at SC Braga on 19 February because of an ankle injury. 

• Ruled out of the games against Dortmund and Braga due to back and neck pains, Jonas came off the bench versus GD Chaves on 24 February but suffered a relapse and missed the trip to Estoril. He returned again for Saturday's 1-0 win at CD Feirense.

• Felipe Augusto suffered an ankle injury in Estoril and is expected to be out for three weeks.

• Jonas extended his contract by one year, until June 2019, on 1 March.